Note 1.This phrase derives its origin from the custom of certain manors where tenants are authorized to take fire-bote by hook or by crook; that is, so much of the underwood as may be cut with a crook, and so much of the loose timber as may be collected from the boughs by means of a hook. One of the earliest citations of this proverb occurs in John Wycliffes Controversial Tracts, circa 1370.See Skelton, Quotation 5. Francis Rabelais: book v. chap. xiii.Du Bartas: The Map of Man.Edmund Spenser: Faerie Queene, book iii. canto i. st. 17.Beaumont and Fletcher: Women Pleased, act i. sc. 3. [back]